What Is It - Work Ethic

I have been pondering whether to write about something I see as a great loss in our society today. Perceived or not, it is a topic which impacts and affects every human being not just in our nation, but in fact the world.

When I was growing up we had very little, my parents scratched out a living for us...and it was in a word, a meager living. But it wasn't all bad as to say, we were happy. We never did without or was on the street, although things got tight more times than I can count. It was during these times, before I entered the workforce when my dad never missed an opportunity to remind us that working is good, "a man is supposed to work", he would say, emphatically. He was preparing us for a life of work...its all he knew and the one thing he could hang his proverbial hat on as a sense of pride and accomplishment. My dad always told my brother and I, once you accept a job and the pay which comes with it, you always give an honest days work for an honest days pay...period. And he meant it.

My entry into the workforce happened by accident, or so it seemed at the ripe age of 13 (two years before it was legal) in my home state of Texas. I remember hanging around a local feed and mercantile store where a school friend worked...as customers came and went I found myself helping out, loading feed, pumping gas, restocking bottled sodas into ice packed coffin beverage case on the front porch of the store, and whatever else I could do.

After a couple of weeks of this, the owner of the store came to me and said, we would like to hire you to work on the weekends. I asked about my friend and the owner told me, "you worked harder for no pay that the other boy did for a days pay". It was the very first time that I understood my value outside of the home. And that what my dad had told us was truth.

My story has many more layers to it, and there are millions more who have similar stories they could share...So why write about this now?

Work Ethic is described as a set of moral principles an employee uses in his or her job and it encompasses many of these traits: reliability/dependability, dedication, productivity, cooperation, character, integrity, sense of responsibility, emphasis on quality, discipline, teamwork, professionalism, respectfulness, determination.

There is nothing in that descriptions which includes a pay scale...my point of this is that we as a society have placed a huge burden on the workforce to value a job simply by the pay which comes with it. There is an argument which says, pay comes before performance...so companies have increased compensation, but how many can quantify an improvement in employee performance?

I recall when I was promoted to a supervisor at 25 years old...I was on a salary and when I was promoted it came with a small increase, but I asked the person who promoted me, how much more can I make in this position. And he told me something drove me, and that was, "I cannot give you what you haven't yet earned". I knew exactly what he meant, there was no reason for further discussion.

Much of what we face today is a self fulfilling prophecy. Many people remain in minimum wage or entry level jobs or jump from one job to another chasing a quarter here and a dollar there. Totally overlooking the fact that if they stayed in a job, put in the effort and time. Made themselves available for extra shifts and fill in for others...opportunities would be at their feet. I realize the issue is much more complex, but lets handle one issue at a time...and it starts with the person and whether they themselves believe they are owed something, or do they have to earn it first? I am afraid it is the former which is more common these days.

Surely there are examples of workers being taken advantage of in the workplace. But my advice is to not be a victim, if your value is not recognized one place, trust me, it is somewhere else.

I will close with this...when my daughters were in school and ready for their first job, I used the same strategy my dad used on me. The one piece I added to mine was to remind them there are many people in a job who are working for a paycheck and some only doing enough to keep a paycheck. I reminded them that even though they were in school this this job was for their spending money, it did not mean that being unproductive on the job was acceptable. That if they applied themselves just a bit extra, they would find opportunity and along the way learn more, be more valuable and could impact others in a positive way by how they showed up each day.

I am proud of both of my daughters for taking that advice and seeing how those examples paid off greatly for them in their now established careers.